Perhaps it is the sign of old(-er) age: not being up-to-date about what’s hip.
There was a time in my life when “tweet” used to denote the sound birds make. During that time, the sound dogs make is “bow wow,” frogs say “kokak!” and cows go “ngoooooh!” But apparently, I have fallen behind the times.
Last Sunday, my husband and I went to a friend’s baby’s birthday party, one of those times which my mother-in-law and/or mother would generally classify as a “social obligation,” i.e., it is an obligation to make “sosyalan.” It was during this occasion when I had the chance to observe today’s children. Clowns were hired to host kiddie games. One such game was called animal farm. The clowns were to state kinds of animals and in response thereto, kids would have to mimic the sounds these animals make. When the clown called out “dog!” my immediate thought was “bow wow wow!” Hey, it was written in almost all grade one books back in my days. So when the little girl replied “woof woof!” I got confused, looked around and wondered to myself whether this was the same sleepy town I’d moved to two years ago. Kids here can’t actually say “woof woof!” right? They can hardly pronounce their “i’s” and “e’s” correctly. But then, the clown said “Frog” and another child went “ribbit! ribbit!” I had to restrain myself from grabbing a handful of my hair and begin shouting “Crispin! Basilio!”
But I suppose it’s but natural, the development and evolution of the species, I mean. What used to be “bow wow” is now “woof woof,” what was “kokak” before has evolved into “ribbit, ribbit.” And now, animals sounds haven’t just changed, the sounds themselves have changed meaning. What used to be a bird’s chirping sound is now a popular social networking website where you can holler to Oprah, Ashton Kutcher and even Barack Obama himself.
We’ve come a long, long way.
